A recent United Nations analysis found that one billion meals were thrown out by households globally in 2022.
According to the UN, during a period when over 780 million people were facing hunger, homes and companies threw away food valued at over one trillion dollars, as reported in the Food Waste Index Report.
The index monitors the efforts of nations striving to reduce food waste by half by 2030.
The report reveals that homes accounted for the majority of the over one billion tons of food waste that occurred in 2022, or about one-fifth of all produce sold on the market.
“Food waste is a catastrophe on a worldwide scale. According to a statement from Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme, “millions will go hungry today as food is wasted across the globe.”
According to the study, such waste was not only immoral but also a “environmental failure.”
Emissions of greenhouse gases from food loss and waste account for 8–10 percent of worldwide emissions. It would come in third place behind the US and China if it were a nation.
The UN’s second study on global food waste offers the most comprehensive picture to date and was co-authored with the nonprofit organization WRAP.
Food services, such as restaurants, canteens, and hotels, accounted for 28 percent of food waste in 2022, with merchants, such as butchers and greengrocers, contributing the remaining 12 percent.
However, homes were the largest offenders, accounting for 60 percent of the total, or 631 million tons. The research shows that, food waste has “devastating effects” on both people and the environment.
Food waste occupies the equivalent of roughly 30 percent of the world’s farming area, despite the fact that converting natural ecosystems for agriculture is a major factor in habitat loss, according to the research.